


Parole

by DrivingStraight



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Explicit Consent, Explicit Sexual Content, Kink Negotiation, M/M, Post-War, Power Dynamics, Pre-Slash, Slash, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 14:38:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23071972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrivingStraight/pseuds/DrivingStraight
Summary: It was as things so often were, Hermione’s fault...Dear Mr Potter,An inmate of Portkey Penitentiary has requested a meeting with you. Mr Malfoy a former Death Eater has cited you as one of his victims. As part of his rehabilitation he has asked that we contact you. At Portkey we encourage our inmates to reach out to people they feel they have wronged. However it is completely up to you whether this meeting goes ahead. More information is available upon your request.Outreach DirectorPortkey Penitentiary
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 14
Kudos: 25





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Trying a new D/H story. I dont have anyone to check it over so please excuse any typos and feel free to point them out and I will fix them. I would love feedback in comment form to see if people are interested in this story continuing:)

Hermione had her wand touching the back of his neck before he had a chance to speak. The crack of his apparition would have given her only a half a second warning and yet he was at her mercy. Mind you he wasn't overly concerned, he was her best friend and she knew that he was one of only a handful of people who could pass through the wards. The war however had hardened them all and he was unsurprised at the welcome he was receiving given he was unannounced and it was 3am 

‘The secret we keep, if you don’t mind Harry’ she asked softly 

He nodded slowly, it had been hard for him to say the first few times she had demanded this of him and he of her only twice but it was easier now. 

‘I held you the night he left, we held each other, nothing happened, but it could have’ he replied

Time heals all wounds he supposed and lessens all discomforts... this thought led him back to why he was scaring the shit out of Hermione tonight. 

She lowered her wand and sat back down on the seat she had obviously just vacated. The table was covered in papers and files, there was a cup of tea next to an open bottle of ink and a quill hovered at attention where he imagined her hand had been resting. 

“I’m sorry Mione, I just apparated, I forgot the time’

She waved her hand in dismissal, though he could see a tension in her face. He remembered it from their nights keeping watch and was sorry he had put it back there. 

‘It’s no trouble Harry, you know that. Just maybe floo in future it gives me more warning. Are you ok? You look a bit... deranged if I’m honest’ 

He felt deranged, what he was about to say was deranged but Hermione was the only person who could help him and he was quiet sure the only person who would want to... at least for the time being

“Hermione...” He paused, taking a deep breath before saying 

“I need to break Draco Malfoy out of jail’

The silence that hung between then was only momentary, it was broken by her peal of laughter. 

‘You need to what?’ she gasped out after a few seconds of laughter had escaped her.

‘ Break Malfoy of jail' Harry repeated steadily. 

Hermione stared at him, obviously waiting for the punchline that wouldn't come. After a second she asked "Are you drunk or have you been cursed?’ Her face suddenly turned stoney and all laughter went out of her eyes.

‘Harry, have you been cursed?’ she repeated now serious, her grip on her wand tightened again. Harry held up his hands and slowly sank into the char opposite her.

“Im fine, you can do any test you want, I’ll drink veritaserum if that would convince you?’ he waited 

Hermione shook her head slowly and then moved her chin up as if to say ‘go on’ 

He drew in a deep breath and prepared to explain what had happened in the last year. How could he explain something so private and odd? He didn't know how to put it into words but in order for this to work he’d have to.

‘It is a long story’ he warned 

“I didn't plan on sleeping much tonight...” she replied.

Silence hung between them as he struggled to find the words...he didn't know how to start, eventually Hermione sighed and stood up. She walked towards the stove top and flicking her wand at the kettle said ‘Harry, for goodness sake what could possible scare me?’. As the kettle began to steam. The normality of the moment and the plainness of her words reassured him. He could tell Hermione. She would understand. This might work.


	2. The letter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments:) It's really encouraging. I hope you enjoy.

It was as things so often were, Hermione’s fault. 

It had started with her outrage at the treatment of Azkaban prisoners. During the early days of rounding up the last of the rouge Death Eaters she had seen first hand the conditions. Despite the Dementors being disbanded the prison itself remained grim. 

The building comprised of hundreds of small stone cells, damp, cold and some without beds or toilets. The prisoners were kept in isolation with no visits or social time. It was, Hermione declared only one step above having the soul sucked out of you and in short a human rights violation. She, and by extension Harry and Ron (apparently) would not cooperate in sending people, yes even Death Eaters to a place like that. 

Remarkably that's all it took. Her status as co savior of the wizarding world combined with the ministry’s desperation to jail Death Eaters as fast as possible meant a complete rehaul of the institution. Hermione drafted a proposition and as a result Azkaban was now Portkey Penitentiary. Hermione was on the board of governors making sure standards stayed high. 

“Don’t you see?” Hermione had grinned 

‘If you take what’s given, you can end up anywhere! People will be rehabilitated if they want and if not they’ll be giving back to society regardless of if they want to or not. Win win’ she had said with satisfaction. 

The boys had agreed it was probably better than sending people to 'fester in their own hate' as Hermione had eloquently put it. So Harry had made a sizable donation to the facility in order to encourage others to back the project...and they did. People wanted to believe in something. Hermione Granger was a safe bet. 

That had been five years ago and Harry had given little thought to the place since. Oh he’d hmmm’d and nodded when Hermione filled him in on the facilities latest success story but he rarely thought of it otherwise. That was until the letter had arrived. Since the letter had arrived it was in fact all he could think of.

He looked down again at the piece of paper in his hand, not sure what it was he expected to happen, for it to change? Not likely. There it was in black and white:

Dear Mr Potter,  


An inmate of Portkey Penitentiary has requested a meeting with you. Mr Malfoy a former Death Eater has cited you as one of his victims. As part of his rehabilitation he has asked that we contact you. At Portkey we encourage our inmates to reach out to people they feel they have wronged. It is of course completely up to you whether this meeting goes ahead. More information is available upon your request.  


Dinah Dorthness,  
Outreach Director,  
Portkey Penitentiary.

Why in the fuck did Draco want to see him? What was there to say? He had said everything he needed to say at his trail. He had told the truth, Hermione, Ron and he had agreed Draco had helped or at least not hindered when it had really counted.

He had told them that he thought Draco had been afraid, that he was just trying to survive like the rest of them...Hermione had reminded him of that. She’d said over and over again that they were all just children fighting an adults war.

Harry felt a twinge of discomfort when he remembered how sick Draco had looked at his trail. He’d been paler and thinner than Harry had ever seen him. He’d been held along with his mother in the old Azkaban since his arrest 6 months previous and it had taken its toll. 

The family had fled to their home in France in the chaos of the battle of Hogwarts but Draco and his mother had returned when word of Voldemort's death had reached them. They had turned themselves in. Narcissa had spent her time pleading on Draco's behalf, she spoke of his fathers cruelty and her cowardice. She gave memories which had been shown in court. Harry had seen her holding Draco the night before he was marked, he’d seen him begging her to get them away from the house, asking her to run, to ask the order for protection.

Narcissa had insisted it was her fault her child had been marked. She said she should have gone to the order but instead she had stayed, trusted her sister and Snape, one a mistake, the other an accidental mercy. 

Harry confirmed her story about lying in the forest. He’d explained that she was the reason he had been able to confront Voldemort. He also confirmed that her motive had been protecting her son and that she seemed to have no loyalty to Voldemort. 

Finally he had described the conflicted state Draco had been in during their sixth year. He couldn't look at Malfoy as he had spoken. He recounted finding the sobbing boy in the toilet, he spoke of the tremendous stress Draco had been under. He told them how Draco’s wand had lowered slightly the night in the tower 

“If there had been more time... I believe he would have yielded. He just wanted to keep his family safe” He’d concluded, sitting down again beside Ron. 

He had been glad when his sentence was only 7 years, others who had the mark had been getting nothing less than 15. He’d also recommended a reduced sentence for Narcissa as she was unmarked and their was little evidence to suggest that she had actually engaged in any Death Eater activities. They hadn't been as forgiving as he’d thought and she received 9 years with good behavior. Harry remembered the relief on her face though, the look she had given them as the sentence was delivered. She’d been grateful.

“He won’t die in prison. That's all I wanted. Him to have a chance of a better life” She’d said to Hermione as she’d been led out of the room. 

Draco had been...silent... then he had disappeared. Until now. Until the letter had arrived. Since then Draco’s name had rang in Harry’s ears and the letter had pressed uncomfortably against his chest through his inside pocket where he kept it. Most disturbingly Harry kept dreaming of a teenage boy who no longer existed. 

Some nights Draco’s foot came crashing down on his nose and his throat filled with blood as Luna never came to find him. Sometimes he watched in horror as Draco’s skin criss crossed with bloody slashes. Harry would shout for help and try to stop the flow as Draco became pale and limp but Snape never came. Other nights Draco nodded confirming his identity and smirked as Death Eaters pressed their wands to their forearms calling their lord. 

Finally he’d woken gasping for breath and reaching desperately into the air above him. He’d had to push the image of Draco’s fingers slipping through his own as the boy fell into flames below them. His voice screaming Harry's name echoing in his ears as he’d stumbled towards the floo.


	3. The system works

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments have been so kind. Thank you very much. They are very encouraging. They meet in the next chapter I promise!

The small kitchen was warm and inviting and despite the fact that it was 3am in the morning Harry’s best friends were staring at him with an alertness that echoed their late nights of planning around a map in the english countryside. 

“I don’t know what to do” He said as he handed over the piece of paper that had so interrupted his life

Hermione took the letter and read it quickly. She lowed the piece of parchment and beamed at him  
‘Harry this is brilliant. Draco has hardly spoken since he was arrested. The fact that he’s reached out is proof the system works’

Ron rolled his eyes from where he was sitting on the kitchen counter with a cup of tea in his hand 

‘Of course it bloody works, its your system Mione. The question is why does Malfoy need to speak to Harry? Surely the list of people that the ferret wronged is a mile long, couldn't he speak to one of them?’ 

Hermione crossed the kitchen to him and settled her back against his chest letting his legs swing either side of her hips, she leaned her head back and looked smugly up at him 

‘I don’t know Ronald, but its progress, so it’s good.’ 

Harry sat at their kitchen table with his own cup of tea held in his hand. Hermione's enthusiasm made him almost wish he hadn't decided to talk to her...and by extension Ron about the letter. Her delight made it hard to stay cold, to pretend he was uneffected by the letter and what it could mean. 

‘what do you mean its progress Mione?’ he asked as he glanced up at them, Ron had his arms around her now. He dropped his eyes back to his cooling tea. Harry was used to their easy affection, the way they leaned, kissed and hugged, it didn't usually bother him, he liked seeing them so happy but tonight for some reason it made his chest tight.

‘Harry?’ 

‘Sorry, what?’ 

She rolled her eyes ‘I said its part of the system, we ask them to reach out, if people are happy to talk, they go and meet, sometimes just once sometimes more, it depends. The results are usually very positive. I’ve never known it not to bring one or both parties... something, peace maybe?’ 

Ron snorted ‘it would bring me a headache, sorry love, you're system is very good but chatting to Malfoy about old times is not something I would agree to Harry. You don't have to go, you don’t owe him anything, in fact he owes you, He owes all of us...’ 

Harry looked between his two best friends. Ron’s face was set in a scowl but Hermione was still smiling softly at him. 

“I think...” she said carefully 

“Draco knows exactly what he owes and to who and he’s ready to start redressing the balance’ 

‘How can you be sure?’ harry asked without making eye contact.

Hermione just grinned back at him ‘Ron? How can I be sure?’ she asked her husband lightly

Ron laughed and lifted his mug to Harry 

‘Because it’s her system mate. It works’ 

Harry laughed. Hermione Granger was a safe bet. He couldn't argue with that. 

He’d written a reply to the letter there and then. Bid goodnight to his long suffering friends and returned home to wait. 

The next morning he awoke to a tapping on his window. It was past noon. He’d overslept but as he had no work today it hardly mattered. A small spotted owl looked in at him curiously. Opening the window for the tiny bird he fetched the owl some treats and untied its message. 

“Thank you” he said absentmindedly holding out a few nibbles for the little creature and flipping the letter over to see the familiar return address of Portkey. 

Ms Dorthness had not lied when she had said that more information had been available. She’d written back as soon as she’d arrived at the office that morning The letter was longer this time. She thanked Harry for his reply and outlined the process. She reiterated Hermione's information that Malfoy had barely spoken a word since entering the prison but Draco was she assured him an otherwise exemplary inmate. She was it seemed very keen that Harry should attend this meeting. Malfoy was now beginning the fifth year in his seven year sentence and she felt this was an active step towards his ‘rehabilitation’ and could potentially lead to an early release. 

Personally Harry thought that this could be an elaborate plan for Malfoy to throw something at him and call him scar head...Yet he had been unable to stop reading the letter. He could not stop thinking about who Malfoy might have turned into. What he might look like and why this nearly silent man suddenly wanted to speak to Harry. It was him barely speaking that stuck with Harry. It didn't feel right...but then the last time Harry had seen Draco, he’d certainly looked speechless.

By that evening Harry had a date and time for his meeting pressing against his chest along with the two other letters.


	4. The wait

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments it's very encouraging. I hope you enjoy. let me know:)

He’d seen Azkaban in pensives and newspapers and then finally when he’d dragged a few Death Eaters through the gates himself. In the early days of the arrests when all hands has been on deck and Hermione had yet to set to work ob reforming the place.

Even back then he wouldn't have wished it on anyone, it was why he was happy to support her. 

Harry thought back to the day they had stood in front of Wizengamot. Ron and he had been set dressing, it was Hermione who had address them. She’d been furious. She was magnificent when she was angry. She quoted some Russian muggle writer in her speech to the ministry he remembered.

“Society should be judged not by how it treats its outstanding citizens but by how it treats its criminals” She’d quoted looking up at the Witches and Wizards decades her senior.

“We won’t accept medals and thanks until you assure us that those we helped bring to justice will receive just that, justice. Not rushed trails to appease a frightened public and a life time sentence in a hole. We were held in a hole by Death Eaters Minister. Are you better than that or not? ” 

That had done it. Her full speech had been published in the Prophet the next day and two days after that she was running a bloody prison. 

Prison seemed a stretch Harry thought as he was shown through to a waiting area where a few other witches and wizards sat. The public spaces were comfortable if a bit clinical. It felt more like a muggle doctors waiting room. He wondered idly if the other people in the room were friends and family or like him ‘victims’. He didn't like that, he didn't feel like Malfoy's victim, somedays he wondered if it was the other way round... He didn't have long to consider this as his attention was pulled back to the present by a a small cough. His eyes were drawn up to a slight man in front of him. 

“Mr Potter?’ 

‘Yes’ Harry replied absently and then more sharply ‘Sorry, was lost in thought there, yes I’m Harry’ he said standing and reaching for the mans hand. 

The man smiled and shook his hand firmly in return

‘No worries. Im Backwell, a senior guard here. I’m to bring you to meet with Draco Malfoy if you’re ready?’ 

Harry wiped his hands on the jeans he wore beneath his robes, conscious since the handshake that his palms were sweating. Ready was perhaps pushing it a bit but it wasn't as if he could put it off much longer.

Harry took in the building as he was led from the room towards what he assumed would be a meeting room or perhaps a cell. 

Portkey was more like the muggle prisons Harry remembered for procedurals he’d watched at his aunt and uncles house, the main difference he imagined was the hum of magic he felt as he walked through the hallways, all the wards he thought. 

Hermione had filled him in on more details about the facility since he had told her he planned to visit Draco. It provide the inmates with educational programs, counseling and jobs programs she had explained. Rehabilitation was the motis operandi, even for prisoners who had received life sentences. 

That being said, it was still a prison she had admitted. People refused to cooperate with the system, fights broke out, people got hurt. Despite initial public interest and funding in times of peace they struggled for resources and were she said understaffed more often then not. Harry had no desire to stay here longer than was necessary. His thoughts were again interrupted by Blackwell’s voice 

“Its simple set up’ he was saying as he turned them down a corridor away from a main hallway 

‘They’ll have sent you out the release form in advance of course. No harm has ever come to a prisoner or visiter since we opened so I wouldn't worry. Not that you would eh?’ he laughed. 

Harry’s mind wandered to Malfoy and the hundreds of times they had scuffled and fought both at school and a the few times during the war. He wondered would they be the first to break the prisons record of no injuries?

They took another turn and Harry resisted the urge to flinch as they heard a shout followed by a slamming metal noise in the distance 

Blackwell shot him a sideways look and said 

“Not everyone wants to play by the rules” 

Harry nodded curtly in understanding. 

They slowed to a stop in front of a solid metal door with a small slot in it, Harry recognized the design from muggle TV again. Blackwell took out his wand from waved it in a cross in front of the slot and harry heard a clunk. Blackwell then put the tip of his wand to the slot which slide open. He peered in and said in a firm but not unkind voice he ordered 

‘Back wall Malfoy. Hands on your head. You know the drill’ 

He turned and smiled easily at Harry 

‘Procedure. We can do a quick pat down and set up a ward, then you can both relax’

Harry couldn't answer, he just nodded dumbly. Blackwell looked back through the slot and nodded to himself, he tapped it again, it slide shut and the door swung open. Blackwell walked in and Harry unsure of what else to do followed. 

Blackwell strode to the back wall. He broad frame blocked most of the other man from view but Harry caught glimpses as he ran his hands up and down a thin man dress in plain gray robes. As Blackwell squatted to run his hands down the mans legs Harry saw that Malfoy’s fingers were interlocked and resting on the back of his head. He body was taught. He was as still as stone. Blackwell stood again, clearly satisfied. He waved his wand over the man and then turned and repeated the same action and muttered something in Harry direction. Harry felt the melt of a spell run over him. Some type of protection no doubt. 

‘I’ll be outside, you can stay as long as you like. No need to rush... not like he’d going anywhere!’ he guffawed 

‘Isn't that right Draco?’ he shouted behind him jovially 

Malfoy stayed in his assumed position but replied so softly harry almost missed it

‘A night in for me Blackwell”

Blackwell laughed again in reply 

“Quiet bloke but funny when he does speak. Nice lad all things considered”

Harry looked at the older man dumbly. 

“Well... I’ll leave you to it. One tap on the door with your wand and it’ll open’ 

With that he walked to the door,Harry watched as it swung heavy on its hinges and closed leaving Harry staring at the still figure facing the wall.


End file.
